Nightmares and Dreamscapes
by Memory Keeper
Summary: Frank Hardy didn't know why this particular incident affected him a lot worse than usual. Nancy had her share of near-misses, brushes with death in the past-- they all had. So why was he having nightmares about this one? Frank/Nancy. One shot.


**Nightmares and Dreamscapes**

Summary: 'Frank didn't know why this particular incident affected him a lot worse than usual. In the many cases they had worked on together over the years, Nancy certainly had her share of near-misses, brushes with death-- they all had. So why was he having nightmares about this one?' Frank/Nancy. One shot.

Disclaimer: Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys are not mine. But I love them as though they were my own. :)

Author's Notes: **Hi guys! Thank you so much again for the positive reviews about my first story, 'The Other Woman'. I was so happy about the encouraging feedback I received that I was inspired to write another piece over the weekend. :D This one's about Frank/Nancy, a little fluffy but I hope you guys like it. Happy reading!**

"Hang on," Frank pleaded even as Nancy's precarious grip slipped down another inch. "Joe will be here any second." He risked a look behind him and saw his brother still in combat with the last thug. "Hurry, Joe!" he called out urgently, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

"I'm going as fast--" Joe grunted as he narrowly avoided being punched in the gut by a meaty fist, "-- as I can here, Frank!" He retaliated with a spinning kick to the side of his opponent's neck and was rewarded with a heavy groan. "Who's the tough guy now, huh?"

Nancy looked up at Frank from over the cliff edge, her blue eyes wide with mute terror as she clung desperately to his wrist. She made the mistake earlier of glancing down at the 200-foot drop that lay below her helplessly dangling feet, and now she was feeling dangerously lightheaded. "Frank…" she breathed, unable to say more over the frantic beating of her heart.

"Everything's going to be okay," Frank assured her, his throat closing up as he took in the heartbreaking picture she made. "I'm right here." He cursed his useless, broken left wrist as he cradled it to his chest. The goon who was responsible for it lay motionless on the ground a few feet away, knocked out cold by Frank's powerful right hook.

Nancy's sweaty grip on his wrist slid down another inch. Her shoulders felt as though they were about to be pulled out of their sockets. "Frank…just in case…" she gasped out. "I want to tell you…"

"No, Nancy," he interrupted, his chest tightening with an emotion he could not identify. "We have all the time in the world after we pull you up this damn cliff. I promise."

"Frank…" she turned her stricken gaze to their straining hands as she felt her grip on him slide down yet another notch. At that point her trembling fingers were digging into his numb palm. "…don't make promises you can't keep."

"I haven't," he swore. "And I'm not about to start now."

"Frank!"

Hearing rapid footfalls heading in their direction, Frank looked over his shoulder and was greatly relieved to see Joe, who had finally finished off the last goon and was running full speed to where Frank was lying on his stomach at the edge of the precipice. "Joe! Quick, grab…" Before Frank could finish, he felt Nancy's sweaty grip slip the rest of the way down his palm, leaving his fingers to grasp the most frightening thing he had felt in his life—empty air.

Frank lost it. "NANCY! NO!" he roared, thrusting his head back over the edge in time to witness Nancy's face blank with horror, mouth parted in a silent scream as she fell…

Frank bolted upright, chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath in the darkness.

Hearing a faint noise, he whipped around and saw Joe's curly blonde head half-hidden by the covers in the bed across the moonlit room. The noise he heard was Joe snoring, and the familiar, oddly comforting sound helped ease his pounding heart.

He exhaled harshly and rubbed his tired, aching eyes. His broken wrist, encased in a cast, was throbbing. _Calm down Hardy, it was only another nightmare. She's safe. Joe grabbed her other wrist and you pulled her up from the edge together, remember? _

Frank didn't know why this particular incident affected him a lot worse than usual. In the many cases they had worked on together over the years, Nancy certainly had her share of near-misses, brushes with death; they all had. Those experiences were scary, no doubt about it, but they always came through for each other. Nancy's scare the other day was no different. So why was he having nightmares about this one?

He sighed. He had the same nightmare last night and was unable to go back to sleep. He had lain awake in bed until dawn, thinking about Nancy and listening to his brother's loud consistent snoring.

Frank knew he had to catch up on his sleep tonight since they were leaving for Bayport tomorrow, where a new case awaited them. Their work here was done. They turned over to the police the two thugs who had tried to kill them, and after a tense interrogation, they finally confessed the whereabouts of the notorious drug lord, who was shortly captured a few hours later.

_Get some sleep, _he told himself. _Everything's all right with the world. Nancy's going home, alive and in one piece._ He lay back down and closed his eyes.

A few minutes later he opened them again.

_I need to check on her. Just for a second, to see if she's okay._

Frank tossed the covers aside and got up. His bare feet padded silently across the carpet and stopped at the closed door that connected Joe's and his hotel room to Nancy's. Part of him knew he shouldn't be doing this, taking a peek at Nancy like some pervert while she was in bed, but the desire to see for himself that she was safe and sound outweighed the guilt he felt.

Slowly turning the knob and easing the door open with the natural stealth that came with being a detective, he poked his head around the frame to take a quick look at the dark bed… which was empty. His eyes automatically went to the bathroom door that stood open, the small room equally dark.

Brow furrowing in concern, Frank pushed open the connecting door the rest of the way. _Where is she?_ he wondered, then saw her standing in front of the huge glass window, her back to him as she stared out into the dark night. A light rain had started to fall, tapping against the pane like faint Morse code.

"Nancy?" Frank whispered, not wanting to startle her but doing so anyway as she jumped slightly and whirled around.

"Frank! You scared me." Nancy ran a hand through her mussed strawberry blonde hair and was suddenly aware that she was clad in nothing more than a midnight blue camisole top and striped pajama bottoms, her robe hanging innocently at the back of the bathroom door.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "Can I come in?"

"Sure. What are you doing up? It's the middle of the night," she said as he joined her by the window. She took in his sleepwear in the moonlight —a thin gray T-shirt and sweatpants. No robe either. She gulped and forced herself to look up into his eyes, which didn't help any. They were twin limpid pools of chocolate brown gazing down at her with something that looked like relief.

"I, uh… couldn't sleep," Frank said, hesitant to mention his nightmare for some reason.

Nancy grinned. "Is Joe's snoring getting worse?"

"I don't think that's possible," Frank said with a laugh. "But if it did, you might be able to hear him through the walls." He looked at her questioningly, an amused glint in his eyes. "Wait, is Joe the reason you're awake?"

_Wrong brother, Frank,_ Nancy thought as she smiled affectionately at him. His thick brown hair was sticking up in different directions, looking so unlike his usual unflappable self that she found it endearing. Aloud she said, "No, I just couldn't sleep, too, I guess." She glanced down at his cast. "How's your wrist?"

"It still aches, but it's getting better. I was lucky it was the left one."

"That's good."

An awkward pause followed. Nancy shifted slightly, and suddenly the thin silk strap of her camisole slipped down her right shoulder. Without thinking, Frank reached out and wordlessly slid the strap back up her shoulder, his fingers tracing a line of fire on her bare skin.

Nancy blushed hotly, desperately hoping the dark hid the effect Frank had on her. "Thanks," she mumbled.

Frank stared at her by the light of the moon falling through the window, his breath catching in his throat. Her sparkling blue eyes were luminescent as though a flame had been lit behind them, her cheeks bearing a rosy pink flush; the red-gold hair fanning her shoulders almost shimmering in the silvery light. Her familiar features had an ethereal aura to it, like he was seeing her in a dream.

"Nancy…" he whispered huskily, unable to mask the longing in his voice.

Nancy looked up at him, frozen in place. Her heart was threatening to pound right out of her chest, bringing her back to the moment the other day when she was dangling helplessly from the edge of the steep drop, every inch of her being solely focused on Frank.

"I was so scared when I saw you hanging off that cliff," he confessed softly, his eyes clouding over as he recalled the horrible moment. Nancy was surprised they were thinking of the same thing. "I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to you." He closed his eyes and saw her terrified face in his nightmare as she plunged to her death.

"Frank, it's okay," she said soothingly, laying a hand on his arm. "I didn't fall."

He opened his eyes and fixed her with an intense look. "But I did," he whispered.

Nancy's eyes widened as the meaning of his words sank in. Her heart resumed its frantic thumping as Frank closed the short distance between them, his brown eyes dark with desire in the hazy light as he tenderly cupped her cheek with his good hand, his fingers blessedly cool against her burning skin. He whispered her name. Feeling lightheaded, Nancy leaned into his hand, her lips parted.

Frank's gaze fell upon her parted lips and he traced his thumb lightly across her lower lip, his eyes darkening even further as he felt the softness of her skin. He couldn't think anymore. He didn't want to think.

Their lips met, softly at first, then quickly deepened into a passionate kiss as years of longing finally exploded between them. Frank groaned and wound his arm around Nancy's waist to pull her hard against him, making her moan at the contact. He kissed her the way he had always wanted to for years.

He had tried to brush off their first kiss in the snowed-in cabin at Mount Mirage as an extreme reaction to a life and death situation. When he couldn't get the passionate one they had shared on the hotel balcony in Egypt out of his mind during the several weeks that followed, he rationalized it as the after-effects of their undercover assignment as husband and wife—despite having told her otherwise during the time, in order to stay sane.

Tonight, in this dark moonlit room, he couldn't lie to himself anymore about the depth of his feelings for Nancy.

They kissed until they had to finally surface for air. Nancy leaned her forehead against Frank's as they both tried to catch their breath. She was at a loss for words, her mind spinning with endless thoughts.

Frank raised his head after a while and gazed into her eyes. He caught a flicker of sadness appear in their blue depths. "Nan, what is it?"

"Nothing," she sighed. "It's just that... this is usually the part where we say we're really good friends."

He was quiet for a moment. "You know, Nan, for the past two nights, I've been having nightmares about what happened on that cliff. Instead of saving you, I kept on dreaming that we were too late… you slipped from my fingers and fell." He drew in a troubled breath.

Nancy squeezed his hand sympathetically. "Is that the reason why you came here tonight? To see if I was okay?" He nodded. "Oh, Frank."

"I kept on wondering why this incident was worse for me than the other times you had been in danger," Frank continued thoughtfully. "Maybe it was a wakeup call."

Seeing her confusion, he said softly, "My feelings for you finally caught up to me that day on the cliff. The ironic thing about it was that I was so scared I was going to lose you, I overlooked the fact that you aren't even mine to begin with. " He laughed humorlessly and stroked her hand, the same one he had gripped securely as a promise.

He looked deep into her eyes. "But I did fall, Nan… a long time ago. I don't know what will happen to us after tonight since we have our lives to get back to, but I want you to carry these words with you, wherever you go."

Nancy blinked back unshed tears, a slow smile lighting up her face. It didn't seem quite real that Frank Hardy was standing in front of her, telling her these things she prevented herself from dreaming of. Even the rain had stopped, as though to listen to what she was going to say. She took a deep breath. "Frank, I…"

"Frank? Nancy?"

Startled, they turned and saw Joe standing in the doorway of the connecting door. He peered at them through bleary eyes, not seeming quite awake. "I got up to use the bathroom and saw Frank's empty bed. Everything okay?" he yawned, scratching his chest.

Nancy inwardly groaned. _Perfect timing, Joe._

Frank glared at his little brother, wanting to throttle him. "Everything's just _peachy_. Go back to bed."

Joe blinked, suddenly noticing the close proximity between his brother and Nancy in the darkness. "Whoops! Am I sleepwalking again? My bad." He was suddenly gone as quickly as he appeared, pulling shut the connecting door behind him for good measure.

Nancy laughed and shook her head as Frank turned back to face her. The spell had been broken. "Two minutes," Frank promised her. "I can smother Joe with a pillow and be back here in two minutes."

She smiled at him ruefully. "It's late, Frank. We better get some rest."

"You're right," he sighed. "You've got an early flight tomorrow." Taking one last look at her silvery features in the moonlight, he said softly, "Good night, Nancy."

She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. "Sweet dreams, Frank," she whispered.

Frank opened his eyes and squinted at the bright sunlight falling through the open blinds. He sat up and looked around. Joe's messy bed was empty.

Rubbing a hand over his face, he wondered why he felt so disoriented. He vaguely remembered dreaming he was with Nancy in a moonlit room at some point, then frowned as soft snatches of their conversation came back to him. _Was it only a dream?_ he thought, his face falling.

"Good morning sleepyhead!" Joe greeted him as he walked out of the bathroom, his blonde hair still damp from the shower. "Under normal circumstances I'd still be conked out, but I'm starving. We better get a move on if we want to catch the breakfast buffet." He went over to his suitcase and pulled out some clothes, not noticing his brother's pensive mood.

"What time is it?" Frank asked.

"It's almost nine. Good thing we booked an afternoon flight." Joe rubbed his damp hair with a towel as he walked back to the bathroom. "Nancy left about an hour ago to catch her flight. She didn't have the heart to wake you."

Frank's heart sank. He wasn't even able to say goodbye to her.

"By the way, I don't know what she meant by the note she left you," Joe continued, sticking his head out of the bathroom door, toothbrush in hand. "We did save her, you know." He made a face.

"She left a note?" Frank repeated eagerly, looking at his bedside table for a slip of paper. "Where is it?"

Joe pointed his toothbrush at his arm. "Down there."

Frank looked down in surprise at his cast. On it were three simple words neatly scrawled in black ink:

**I fell, too. **

Joe watched as Frank broke into a huge smile. "I don't get it," he mumbled, his mouth full of toothpaste.

As he heard his older brother begin to chuckle to himself, Joe shrugged. "And they call _me_ the crazy one."

Add'l A/N: **The idea for this story came while I was driving home from work—out of nowhere I got an image in my head about Frank and Nancy talking in a moonlit room in the middle of the night. I wondered, what would they be talking about? The story evolved from there. Hope you guys enjoyed! As always, I live for your reviews. Thanks for reading! :) -MK**


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